ReviewAmerican health & drug benefits2021
Negative Consequences of the Widespread and Inappropriate Easy Access to Purchasing Prescription Medications on the Internet.
Review in American health & drug benefits, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stakeholder Perceptions on Innovative Private Pharmacy Distribution Channels and Implications for Medicine Quality in Zambia: A Qualitative Study.Global health, science and practice · 2026Article
- Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices towards the usage of antidiabetic drugs for weight loss among Lebanese population.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Quantitative assessment of china's policies on the online sale of prescription drugs.PloS one · 2026Article
- Redefining Counterfeit Medicines and Updating the Legal Framework to Address Falsified Medicines: A Qualitative Policy Review.Acta medica Philippina · 2025Article
- A qualitative exploration of consumers' views and experiences toward online pharmacies: Narrative from a developing country.PloS one · 2025Article
- Purchasing medicines and functional foods on the internet: a cross-sectional study investigating the knowledge, attitudes, and experience of Vietnamese people in 2023.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Search Engines and Generative Artificial Intelligence Integration: Public Health Risks and Recommendations to Safeguard Consumers Online.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Identifying legitimate websites selling medicines in South Africa.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Article
- Practices, perceptions and trust of the public regarding online drug purchasing: a web-based survey from Jordan.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Public awareness of online pharmacies, consumers' motivating factors, experience and satisfaction with online pharmacy services, and current barriers and motivators for non-consumers: The case of Saudi Arabia.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2023Article
- Tackling Counterfeit Drugs: The Challenges and Possibilities.Pharmaceutical medicine · 2023Review
- Telepsychiatry in an Era of Digital Mental Health Startups.Current psychiatry reports · 2023Review
- Illicit Online Pharmacies: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- [Regulation of the online sale of medical products: experiences and strategies for Latin AmericaRegulamentação da venda de produtos médicos pela internet: experiências e estratégias para a América Latina].Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2023Article
- The Impact of Patient Access to Their Electronic Health Record on Medication Management Safety: A Narrative Review.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2022Review
- Editorial: Therapeutic Index for Nutraceuticals in Inflammation-Related Diseases: Efficacy, Bioavailability, Metabolism and Interactions With Drugs, Volume II.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Availability of Antibiotics for Veterinary Use on the Internet: A Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe purchase of prescription medications via the Internet is a global phenomenon with significant economic, social, and health-related impacts. The growth of online purchasing of prescription medicines is significant and has been amplified by social isolation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many patients unable to obtain medicines as they normally would. By contrast, there are licensed, certified, legitimate retail pharmacies that provide significant and vital services to patients.
objectiveTo review the major public health threat from illegal entities that sell any type of prescription medicines to individuals without proper physician oversight. DISCUSSION: Rogue and inappropriate online vendors are providing counterfeit and substandard medications fraudulently with untold impacts on morbidity and mortality globally. This article presents the differentiation between the types of legal and illegal Internet pharmacies, as well as the actions that are currently in play to affect the illegal online purchase of prescription medicines. Much must be done in a collaborative, global effort to address the public health threat of obtaining prescription drugs via the Internet.
conclusionGlobal, federal, state, health professional, societal, and patient-specific collaborations are necessary to affect the significant threat that is now present via the increasing ease of access to online medication purchases.
Indexed as
Identifiers
33841622PMC8025924W3127600448What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.